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I don’t know whether you have ever used a handheld, indoor bug zapper, but I think that they are wonderful. I?m talking about the handheld sort that looks like a child’s plastic, toy tennis racquet. They come in two basic sorts. I rather the rechargeable bug zapper, for the reason that batteries end up up costing more than the indoor bug zapper itself, although you could always buy rechargeable batteries, but then they are costly too.

My wife and I like to spend time in the garden. We meet friends there, lunch there and generally lounge about outdoors, as do most people around here, when they are not working. What’s more, it’s much cooler outdoors than indoors. A comfy chair, a few snacks, a cool drink and a book or a friend and life does not get much better. In fact, it?s idyllic.

That is until about six or seven o’clock when the first squadron of mosquitoes have judged that the sun’s rays have lost enough strength that they will not evaporate and they come out looking for blood. Some evenings are worse than others, of course. Normally, the mosquitoes are pretty bearable, especially seeing as I have discovered the indoor bug zapper. (I don’t know why it is called an ‘indoor bug zapper’, it is equally as effective outdoors as in).

It’s not that I want to kill things, but I find it difficult to have sympathy for mosquitoes. Nevertheless, I do get a certain amount of enjoyment from seeing and hearing mosquitoes and other bugs literally blow up with a flash and a spark as they come into contact with the electric and ground wires of the indoor bug zapper. These electric bug zappers are capable of packing quite a charge, especially if the batteries are new or the pack is wholly charged.

The other day, I discovered a novel use for my handheld, indoor bug zapper. I’ll tell you how it came about. I was in the garden, as usual, and my bug zapper was close at hand as the first squadron of mosquitoes was due. I had my book in one hand and the bug zapper on my knees, when my wife asked me to go to the shop for her. No problem, so, I set off on the five minute walk.

I was half-way there when I noticed that I had the indoor bug zapper in my hand, but it was not worth taking it home and beginning the journey again. Anyhow, on my return journey, I had my small bag of groceries in one hand and the indoor bug zapper in the other, when a local tyrant of a dog came running out of a garden directly for me. This has happened often and, although he has never bitten me yet, it is rather menacing. He stood there glaring at me with teeth bared and his ‘pack’ of assorted local pals came out to encircle me and join in.

I don’t actually know what the best course of action is in this situation. I have tried holding my ground, but the intimidation just continues and I have tried to continue walking, but he gets worryingly close sometimes. This time, I suddenly lashed out with the indoor bug zapper and just hit him on the snout. Well, I’m not sure whether it hurt him, it did not appear to too much, but it gave him a very nasty shock in more ways than one, I can tell you! He leapt about four feet into the air as if he were on a pogo stick and then fled for all he was worth with all his friends behind him. It was very gratifying after six months of persecution from this dog.

Anyway, I don’t take my indoor bug zapper everywhere with me, but I will in future, if any further local dogs bother me. I know it works a treat. I have seen that one since, but he stays far away from me and doesn’t utter a squeak. I think I would take my indoor bug zapper with me, if I were wandering in an strange part of town or the park nevertheless.

Have you ever used an indoor bug zapper? If not, or if you want to get an indoor bug zapper, please click one of the links to our web site or blog.

It appears that there has been a wane in consumer trust in the building and construction industry of late. This may be because of the scams shown on television or the bribery and corruption endemic in the corporate sector, but it is almost certainly the same motivation why so many are now doing home improvements by themselves.

And why shouldn’t they? A little knowledge of the technical aspects together with with an eye for creativity is often enough to carry out the home improvement on your own.

Why are people turning to DIY home improvements?

There are many people trying to pass themselves off as construction workers, although they do not have a lot of experience in construction or home maintenance and they are literally are out there right now practising, learning their trades on homes like yours and mine across the country.

As a result, homeowners are finding that the jobs are not being finished to their liking. At times they are even pre-paying for services that do not get done or were not part of the arrangement.

You do not have to trust and pay someone to enhance your home. Why not have a go yourself?

You can augment your home?s existing concrete surfaces using acid stains, acrylic paints, epoxy paints, and scoring techniques.

If you are bored with looking at bleak gray concrete, there are some easy projects if you are earnest about having a go at home improvement DIY, you can easily give your patio, driveway or garage a revitalizing new look.

Attractive concrete work costs about double that of standard concrete, which is why a lot of people cannot afford it.

However, there are cheaper methods to decorate concrete after it has cured, without having to pay trained tradesmen.

Acid-based concrete stains are becoming more and more fashionable for coloring concrete surfaces. They chemically react with the cement to produce permanent color with a variegated or mottled appearance similar to that of marble. This results in a natural, elegant looking surface.

Water-based concrete stains are an alternative to acid stains but are much more user friendly because they are so much less dangerous. These stains do not chemically react with the concrete; they are absorbed into the porous surface and act like a dye. The big benefit of water based stains is the wide array of colors available.

If you want to risk going beyond the basic staining of your concrete, consider using some scoring techniques to create patterns on the surface.

You can make your concrete resemble a tiled floor for example. It is just up to your imagination. A mini angle grinder with a 4 inch cutting wheel is the perfect tool for this.

The important thing to bear in mind when scoring is to trace out the pattern on the concrete first and ensure you are happy with the way it looks because scoring is irreversible.

Epoxy paints make an excellent coating for garage floors and cellar floors. Many industrial floors have epoxy coatings because of their hardiness and resilience to chemical spills as well as their appearance.

In recent years, however, it has become very popular for residential use with the availability of an growing quantity of different colors. This is not a tricky job, but the key to successful application is surface preparation.

Epoxy paints have also become available in a water based form making it safe for the DIY’er and perfect for indoor jobs. They cost a little more than stains. For a 400 square foot area, you’ll spend about $200 for the materials required for this project.

So, you see? You do not have to spend big money to improve your home. You have the capacity to do it yourself. With some instructions and a little bit of work, anyone can turn boring concrete into a masterwork of their own.

I don’t know whether you have ever used a handheld, indoor bug zapper, but I think that they are wonderful. I?m talking about the handheld sort that looks like a child’s plastic, toy tennis racquet. They come in two basic sorts. I rather the rechargeable bug zapper, for the reason that batteries end up up costing more than the indoor bug zapper itself, although you could always buy rechargeable batteries, but then they are costly too.

My wife and I like to pass time in the garden. We meet friends there, have a meal there and in general laze about outdoors, as do most folks around here, when they are not working. What’s more, it’s far cooler outdoors than indoors. A comfy chair, some snacks, a chilled drink and a book or a buddy and life does not get much better. In fact, it?s idyllic.

That is until about six or seven o’clock when the first wave of mosquitoes have judged that the sun’s rays have lost enough strength that they will not evaporate and they come out searching for blood. Some evenings are worse than others, of course. Usually, the mosquitoes are pretty tolerable, especially seeing as I have discovered the indoor bug zapper. (I don’t know why it is referred to as an ?indoor bug zapper?, it is just as effective outdoors as in).

It’s not that I like to kill things, but I find it hard to have consideration for mosquitoes. Nevertheless, I do get a definite amount of pleasure from seeing and hearing mosquitoes and other bugs literally blow up with a flash and a zap as they come into connection with the electric and ground wires of the indoor bug zapper. These electric bug zappers can pack quite a charge, especially if the batteries are new or the pack is completely charged.

The other day, I found a new use for my handheld, indoor bug zapper. I’ll tell you how it came about. I was in the garden, as normal, and my bug zapper was close at hand as the first squadron of mosquitoes was expected. I had my book in one hand and the bug zapper on my knees, when my wife asked me to go to the store for her. No problem, therefore, I set off on the five minute walk.

I was half-way there when I realized that I had the indoor bug zapper in my hand, but it was not worth taking it home and starting the journey again. Anyhow, on my return trip, I had my small bag of provisions in one hand and the indoor bug zapper in the other, when a local tyrant of a dog came running out of a garden directly for me. This has occurred often and, although he has never bitten me yet, it is very intimidating. He stood there glaring at me with teeth bared and his ‘pack’ of sundry local friends came out to encircle me and join in.

I don’t actually know what the best course of action is in this situation. I have tried holding my ground, but the intimidation just continues and I have tried to continue walking, but he gets worryingly close sometimes. This time, I suddenly lashed out with the indoor bug zapper and just hit him on the snout. Well, I’m not sure whether it hurt him, it did not appear to too much, but it gave him a very nasty shock in more ways than one, I can tell you! He leapt about four feet into the air as if he were on a pogo stick and then fled for all he was worth with all his friends behind him. It was very gratifying after six months of persecution from this dog.

Nevertheless, I don’t take my indoor bug zapper everywhere with me, but I will in future, if any further local dogs trouble me. I know it works a treat. I have seen that one since, but he keeps well away from me and doesn’t utter a squeak. I believe I would take my indoor bug zapper with me, if I were walking in an strange part of town or the park though.

If you aren’t already familiar with the hand held insect killer, you are really going to love it and if you have had one before, I’m sure you’ll welcome it back like an old pal! The electric bug killer does just what it says it does: it zaps bugs. But it does it really, really effectively.

Any insect that comes into contact with the handheld insect zapper is fried. Smaller insects like gnats and mosquitoes are vaporized with a very satisfying flash and a crack. Larger insect, like house flies and wasps die, but don’t explode like the smaller ones.

How many times have these flying insects taken the edge off an otherwise lovely evening in the garden? Or how many times have you not been able to get a decent night’s sleep, because you know there’s at least one mosquito in the bedroom. It has happened to me hundreds of times, I know! It is very satisfying to get one’s own back with the handheld bug zapper.

I don’t like killing anything unnecessarily – I’m married to a Buddhist- but mosquitoes? I’m sorry, they have to go. And the handheld insect killer does it without any messing about. No waiting and hoping they’ll fly into the ultraviolet light and into the mesh. No, one sweep of the handheld bug killer and the mosie’s gone and you can hear whether you got her or not. (I say her, because the sucking mosquitoes always are females – I assure you, I wasn’t being sexist).

There are two basic sorts of electronic bug zapper. There’s the battery operated bug zapper and the rechargeable electric bug zapper. Both work on the same principle, but I prefer the rechargeable type, although I suppose you could use rechargeable batteries too. (I bet they would be more expensive that the bug zapper in the first place). Anyway, I have been using a handheld insect killer of the rechargeable kind for five years and I am ecstatic about them.

Nowadays, I spend a lot of time in Thailand with my wife, so you can bet your bottom dollar that I give my hand held bug zapper a good work-out practically every evening. We usually eat in the garden in the evening and all socializing is done outside by tradition, especially in the rural areas, where we live. So it comes in real handy. I also use my hand held insect killer to ’sweep’ the bedroom for bugs before we retire at night. Just like a CIA agent.

The handheld bug killer just gets better and better every time I buy one, which makes it hard to give you definite specifications. The electronic bug zappers I used four or five years ago, often failed within 6-9 months of purchase, although their ability to store a charge reduced a lot after 4-5 months.

However, the new hand held bug killer will last 9-12 months and still be very pokey after nine months. My latest model even has a powerful light called a headlamp built into it. I’m not sure what it’s supposed to be for, but if you feel that revenge is sweet, you can lure mosquitoes with it and then zap them with your handheld bug killer.

Have you ever heard of a handheld bug zapper? If you haven’t, or if you want to get a handheld bug zapper, just click one of the links to our web site or blog.

Some of the commonest bugs we see indoors anywhere in the world are flies, spiders, fleas and beetles. No-one likes to see a bug indoors, so most people will go to just about any lengths to eradicate these common indoor bugs. The less common indoor bugs may be woodlice, earwigs, scorpions and millipedes or centipedes, although they are not less wanted.

No matter where you are in the world, it is very difficult to keep these common indoor bugs outside, unless you go to the extremes of keeping all your windows and doors closed at all times, which is obviously impossible. I live in Thailand and I know that this is not an option.

So, what on Earth can you do? Well, let’s deal with all the flying insects first, because of all the common indoor bugs, I find them the most unpleasant indoor bug. They are very annoying, buzzing around your head and mosquitoes and other flies can create irritating sores and besides that, all flies spread disease. I cannot bear to see them walking on food, knowing that they have probably just come off some dog’s muck somewhere and now they are spitting on my food to taste it with their grubby feet!

My first line of defence is fine-mesh door and widow screens. They are not dear and can be fitted retrospectively to any window. My window meshes slide, so they can cover only one half of a window at a time, but I do not think that’s a problem. You can still create cross-winds, by opening two or more windows at opposite sides of a room. I just love to see the flies on the mesh trying to get in by day and the mosquitoes doing the same by night. At night, it is wise to burn as little light indoors as possible so as not to attract these common indoor insects.

My second line of defence is natural predators – lizards, like Geckos (Jin Jok, in Thai). Some people don’t like them in the house either. I can’t say I’m all that keen on them indoors myself, but they are hard to keep out and they do consume hundreds, if not thousands, of indoor bugs every day. I like to see them lying in wait on the outside of the mesh, ready to pounce on any bug trying to wriggle its way through the wires.

My third line of defence is a handheld bug zapper. You know, the electric, handheld bug zapper that looks like a child’s tennis racquet. The come in two forms: battery and rechargeable kinds. They are fantastic at trapping and destroying any flying bug. The bug literally explodes and vaporizes on contact with the fully-charged wires of the indoor bug zapper. If you haven’t tried using one, you really ought to. They are most satisfying. These three defences will keep your house quite much free of flies.

The crawling common indoor bugs are not so much of a problem really. Door screens on springs will keep 99% of them out and the Geckos will help too. Spiders can get in fairly very easily, but then, I don’t mind them too much as long as they keep out of my way, as they consume other insects too. They are on our side really. However, for those who can not bear to catch them and put them outside, the handheld indoor bug zapper works a treat on spiders too.

Fleas can be a problem, if you have cats or dogs, but then if you wash or dust the animal once a month, you should be able to keep those common indoor bugs under control quite easily. However, there are two final measures that we employ. Every week, before we go out for the day, we spray every room with fly killer and every six-months we spray any rugs or carpets with an insect killer containing permethrin, which will survive washing and vacuuming for that long without losing its ability to kill common indoor bugs on contact. If you stick with these measures, you should be able to keep your home or office quite free of the most common indoor bugs and any less common indoor bug as well.